August 11, 2012
I’ve been keeping busy this summer, working on all kinds of awesome projects. Per usual, there’s been a lot of baking, some great writing gigs, the occasional wedding cake (I played the dual role of bridesmaid and baker in the photo above – and my fantastic and patient husband supported as sous chef), and lots of studying for the Certified Exam with the Court of Master Sommeliers. I’ve enjoyed the consistency of my Pie of the Week column over at Serious Eats. After all, pie is the official dessert of summer. Check ‘em out!
Blueberry Crumble Pie
Mallomar Pie
Mini Sweet Cherry Pies
Chocolate Mud Pie
Strawberry Lattice Pie
Fresh Summer Berry Pie
Butterscotch Pudding Pie
Peanut Butter Pretzel Ice Cream Pie
Peach and Ginger Crumble Pie
Oreo Ice Cream Pie (made for Oreo’s 100th birthday celebration)
S’mores Pie
December 24, 2011
All photos by Lauren Weisenthal
Leading up to Christmas, I’ve been doing some new techniques posts over at Serious Eats. There are some slideshows to help folks through the process of making a classic French yule log cake, the Bouche de Noel.
My favorite part of this cake is, of course, the mushroom meringues. I love Maida Heatter’s recipe in her Book of Great Desserts.
Speaking of Christmas candy, I also had a lot of fun messing around with recipes for torrone, the Italian nougat candy. Watch for that recipe over on Serious Eats on Monday. Merry, Happy!
November 6, 2009
I spend a lot of time mulling over the following question: If [insert friend's name here] were a cake, what kind of cake would [he/she] be?
Those of us who enjoy baking celebration cakes understand the weighty significance of this question, with its myriad of factors to be weighed. Taste is an obvious one, our goal being to avoid flavors that exercise the recipient’s gag reflex and focus squarely on those that cause he or she to roll around and salivate like a dog.
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August 21, 2009
With all of my attention, love, and affection (for food, at least) directed at bread baking these days, it might seem that I’ve strayed from my first love, pastry.
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May 6, 2009
Between the chaos of work trips, half-packed suitcases and endless hours of convention center banter, there was cake. Delicious, unapologetically rich, lavishly frosted cake.
Um, two cakes, actually.
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March 31, 2009
See that picture directly above? The one with the pretty black and white cake? I made that! Me!
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March 15, 2009
I’ve been so entertained all week, watching my friend Eva struggle to restrain herself from spilling the beans as she snuck around Brooklyn planning a suprise birthday party for her boyfriend Gabe. You could see the secret welling up inside her, ready to burst. She told me that by the time the day of the party came around, she restricted conversations to “Hi honey, I love you” for fear that she would let something slip. It was heartwarming and adorable.
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January 1, 2009
Last night a few of us gathered at our place for an extravagant, multi-course dinner cooked by Brian to ring in a new year that we can only hope holds as many good things for us as the one that has just passed. The meal had been built up for weeks and I felt a lot of pressure to deliver an amazing dessert to round it out in the wee morning hours, post ball drop. I thought about it for days and days, but the epiphany for which I was waiting never came. With just hours before our guests arrived, I decided to whip up a celebration cake, because hey, who doesn’t love cake? And celebrations? This one features a rich, yet light and delicious devil’s food cake (made with three types of chocolate!), sandwiched between big fluffy layers of the lightest marshmallow frosting you’ve ever tasted.
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